Malaysian football league system

Association football is a national sport in Malaysia, where the first modern set of rules for the code were established in 1921, which were a major influence on the development of the modern Laws of the Game. The sport of football in the country of Malaysia is run by the Football Association of Malaysia. The association administers the national football team as well as the national league.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]

The Malaysian football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in Malaysia. The system has a hierarchical format with promotion and relegation between leagues at different levels, allowing even the smallest club the hypothetical possibility of ultimately rising to the very top of the system. The exact number of clubs varies from year to year as clubs join and leave leagues or fold altogether, but an estimated average of 10 clubs per division implies that hundreds of teams are members of a league in the Malaysian men's football league system.

History

Football arrived in Malaysia (Malaya at that time) with the British. The locals soon picked up the game, and before long it was the country's leading sport. Towards the end of the 19th century, football was one of the central pillars of most sports clubs in Malaya. But it was not structured. Even when the Selangor Amateur Football League took shape in 1905 – which ensured proper administration and organisation – the competition was confined only to clubs in Kuala Lumpur.

In 1933, football of Malaysia was founded as Football Association of Malaysia which managed the local football scene at that time.[8] By 1954, FAM joined FIFA as a member in AFC.

The system consists of a pyramid of leagues, bound together by the principle of promotion and relegation. A certain number of the most successful clubs in each league can rise to a higher league, whilst those that finish at the bottom of their league can find themselves sinking down a level. In addition to sporting performance, promotion is usually contingent on meeting criteria set by the higher league, especially concerning appropriate facilities and finances.

In theory it is possible for a lowly local amateur club to rise to the pinnacle of the Malaysian game and become champions of the Liga Super. As the main leagues in Malaysia consist of three tiers, it is possible for a new team to become a champions in just three years if they perform well within the pyramid.

The top three levels contain one division each and are nationwide in scope. Below this, the levels have progressively more parallel leagues, which each cover progressively smaller geographic areas. Many leagues have more than one division. At the lower levels the existence of leagues becomes intermittent. There are also leagues in various parts of the country, which are not officially part of the system as they do not have formal agreements with the football associations and are run by independent organisers. These are mostly held in forms of carnival style, where the league's duration is just a couple of days of months. Clubs from state leagues may, if they feel they meet the appropriate standard of play and have suitable facilities, apply to join a league which does form part of the system.

The top two levels of the Malaysian football league system are operated by the Football Malaysia LLP, which consists of Liga Super and Liga Premier. All clubs in these two leagues are fully professional.[9][10][11][12]

The third levels of the Malaysian football league system are operated by the Football Association of Malaysia, which consists of the Liga FAM. All clubs in Liga FAM are semi-professional.

The fourth levels of the Malaysian football league system consist of leagues that run in parallel. The leagues which are co-managed by Football Association of Malaysia are the Liga Bolasepak Rakyat and Liga Bola Sepak IPT. All clubs in Liga Bolasepak Rakyat and Liga Bola Sepak IPT are amateur. The fourth level also consists of Malaysia States League, which are organised by 14 different states' football associations, and runs in parallel to the one that are run by the FAM. It is an amateur league consisting of community clubs, social clubs, professional clubs, and company clubs from all over the respective states in Malaysia which compete in their own regional state league. It has multiple divisions within it. The also consists of 10 recognised social league by FAM all around the Malaysia.

There are other levels after this, which the leagues run within their regional, city, district or sub-district area. They are lesser known, and most of the teams are amateur levels which may join the upper-tier level if they want to go further with their team.

Current structure

Liga Super is the highest level in the Malaysia football league system. The second level is Liga Premier. Liga Super and Liga Premier are professional league and governed and operated by Football Malaysia LLP.

The third level is Liga FAM. Liga FAM is consist by 16 teams and divided into 2 groups. Liga FAM is semi professional league and governed and operated by Football Association of Malaysia.

Level four consists of multiple leagues run in parallel for each of the states/federal territories championship and managed by their respective states football associations. The Liga Bolasepak Rakyat, Liga Bola Sepak IPT, 10 recognised Social League are an independent football league that also part of football pyramid which are managed with collaboration of FAM.

The table below shows the 2018 season structure of the system. For each division, its official name, sponsorship name (which differs from its historic name) and number of clubs is given. At levels 1–3, each division promotes to the division(s) that lie directly above it and relegates to the division(s) that lie directly below it. Below that level, individual league articles detail promotion and relegation arrangements.

Men's

Level

League/Division
starting from 2018

1

 Malaysia Super League (M1)
12 clubs

2

Malaysia Premier League (M2)
12 clubs

3

Malaysia FAM League (M3)
(Group A)
7 clubs

Malaysia FAM League (M3)
(Group B)
7 clubs

4

Malaysia Division 5 League (M5)
Unlimited clubs - 4 states Football League and 10 Social League

Starting from 2019, the champion from 4 FA State League and 10 Social League teams are promoted to newly established fourth-tier league called Malaysia Division 4 League. Hence, this year's fourth tier league will be fifth tier starting season 2019.

Level

League/Division
starting from 2019

1

 Malaysia Super League (M1)
12 clubs

2

Malaysia Premier League (M2)
12 clubs

3

Malaysia FAM League (M3)
16 clubs

4

Malaysia Division 4 League (M4)
24 clubs

5

Malaysia Division 5 League (M5)
Unlimited clubs - 4 states Football League and 10 Social League

The Malaysia Division 5 League are the Malaysia football state division leagues. They are administered and operated by the states football association and independent operator. The level immediately above is the Malaysia Division 4 League. The divisions include are:

States & Federal Territories Operated by Level 5 Level 6 Level 7

Perlis

 Perlis FA N/A

Kedah

 Kedah FA N/A

Penang

 FA Penang N/A

Perak

 Perak FA N/A

Selangor

 FA Selangor N/A
Shah Alam League N/A
Subang Football League N/A
Sunrize Community League N/A
Klang Valley League N/A
South Selangor League N/A
Selangor Social Premier League N/A

Federal Territories

 Kuala Lumpur FA KL Super League KL League Division One KL League Division Two
Putrajaya N/A
Labuan N/A
DD Social League N/A
Liga Komuniti Puchong N/A

Negeri Sembilan

 Negeri Sembilan FA N/A

Melaka

 Melaka FA Melaka League Division One Melaka League Division Two Melaka League Division Three

Johor

 Johor FA Johor Darul Ta’zim League N/A

Pahang

 Pahang FA Pahang Division One League N/A

Terengganu

 Terengganu FA PBSNT League

8 clubs

 N/A
TAL Super League (D1)

20 clubs

 TAL Premier League (D2)

20 clubs

 N/A

Kelantan

 Kelantan FA N/A

Sabah

 Sabah FA N/A

Sarawak

 FA Sarawak N/A

Youth

Level

Development

Youth

Grassroots

1

Malaysia President Cup (U21)
24 clubs

Malaysia Youth Cup (U19)
24 clubs

MSSM Cup (U18)
15 State clubs

KPM-FAM Youth Cup (U17)
18 school clubs

MSSM Cup (U15)
15 State clubs

MOE Ministry Cup (U14)
16 school clubs

MSSM Cup (U12)
15 State clubs

Former structure

Before the current known system, the Malaysian football league system underwent multiple iteration changes since its introduction in 1979 and officially as the country's men's football league competition in 1982 with the introduction of league trophy for the winners.

Amateur league system (1982–1988)

A football league competition involving the representative sides of the state football associations was first held in Malaysia in 1979. When it began, it was intended primarily as a qualifying tournament for the final knock-out stages of the Piala Malaysia. It was not until 1982 that a league trophy was introduced to recognise the winners of the preliminary stage as the league champions. Over the years, the league competition has gained important stature in its own right.

Below is the Malaysian amateur football league system in from 1982 to 1988.

Level

Leagues/divisions

1 Liga Malaysia
2 14 States League

Semi-Pro league system (1989–1993)

In early days, the Malaysian football league system consisted of an amateur league before the changes in 1989, when it was known as the Liga Semi-Pro (MSPFL) from 1989 to 1993.[13]

Initially the only teams allowed to participate in the league were the state FA's sides, teams representing the Armed Forces and the Police, and teams representing the neighbouring countries of Singapore and Brunei (though the Football Association of Singapore pulled out of the Malaysian League after the 1994 season following a dispute with the Football Association of Malaysia over gate receipts, and has not been involved since).

The inaugural season of MSPFL consisted of nine teams in Division 1 and eight teams in Division 2. The Malaysian Police joined Division 2 in 1990. Games were played on a home and away basis for about four months roughly between the end of April or early May and the end of August or early September. For the first season three points were awarded for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss, but in subsequent seasons this was changed to a 2, 1, 0 basis. At the end of the League competition the top three placed teams in both divisions received prize money while two were relegated/promoted and a playoff was staged between the eighth placed team in Division 1 and the third placed team in Division 2. The top six teams in Division 1 and top two in Division 2 also proceeded to the quarter-finals of the Piala Malaysia.

In 1992, FAM created another amateur league for local clubs in Malaysia to compete, which is called the Liga Nasional[14] The league was managed by FAM outside entity, Super Club Sdn. Bhd. Some of the clubs which compete in the league are Hong Chin, Muar FA, PKNK from Kedah, DBKL, PKNS, BSN, LPN, BBMB, Proton, PPC and PKENJ. Unfortunately, the league only ran for a couple of seasons before it folded. Some of the clubs were then evolved and joined the main league, such as PKENJ, which became JCorp and now as JDT.

In 1989 to 1993, the Liga Semi-Pro was divided into two levels:

Level

Leagues/divisions

1 Liga Semi-Pro Divisyen 1
2 Liga Semi-Pro Divisyen 2
3 14 States League

Professional football league system (1994–1997)

Between 1994 and 1997, there was no second level league as the top two leagues were combined. 1994 was when Malaysian football league turned professional. The MSPFL essentially became the Liga Perdana, a National League was added, and a second cup competition, Piala FA, joined the existing Piala Malaysia.

With the formation of professional football league in 1994, Piala FAM was held again as yearly competition after being absent from 1986 to 1990 and 1992 to 1993.[15][16]

The newly formed professional football league was almost in peril when a bribing and corruption scandal was discovered between 1994 and 1995. 21 players and coaches was sacked, 58 players were suspended and 126 players were questioned over corruption by Malaysian authorities.[17][18]

Level

Leagues/divisions

1 Liga Perdana
2 14 States League

In 1997, promotion from Piala FAM to the professional M-League was introduced for the first time. Johor FC and NS Chempaka FC were the first two sides to be promoted that year.[19]

Malaysian league system (1998–2003)

In 1998 to 2003, the football league in Malaysia was divided again into two levels:

Level

Leagues/divisions

1 Liga Perdana 1 (LP1)
2 Liga Perdana 2 (LP2)
3 14 States League

In recent years, top Malaysian club teams have also been admitted to the league competition. The restriction for state FA's team from being relegated was lifted in order to promote a healthy competition in the league.

System revamp (2004)

The league was revamped to be a fully professional league in 2004 following the decision by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) to privatise the league, but it was not fully privatised. As a result, MSL Sendirian Berhad (or MSL Proprietary Limited) was created to oversee the marketing aspects of the league top-tier league at that time.

In 2005, Piala FAM became a third-tier competition and the format of the competition was changed to include a two-group league followed by the traditional knockout format.[20]

Between 2004 and 2006, the professional football league in Malaysia was divided into two levels and two groups:

Below is the Malaysian football league system revamp in 2004.

Level

Leagues/divisions

1 Liga Super (MSL)
8 clubs
2 Liga Premier Group A (MPL Group A)
8 clubs		 Liga Premier Group B (MPL Group B)
8 clubs
3 Piala FAM (from 2005)
4 14 States League

At the end of the season, the top team from each group of the Liga Premier was promoted to the Liga Super. The teams which finished at the bottom of each group were relegated to the Liga FAM. The two group champions also faced off to determine the Liga Premier Championship.

System restructure (2007–2013)

From 2007 until now, the professional football league in Malaysia was only divided into two levels when Liga Premier was combined into one level: Below is the Malaysian football league system in 2007. For the 2006-07 season, the Liga Premier was reorganised into a single league of 11 teams instead of being a competition involving two separate groups of teams.

Level

Leagues/divisions

1 Liga Super (MSL)
11 clubs
2 Liga Premier (MPL)
11 clubs
3 Liga FAM
4 14 States League

In 2008, FAM has changed the Piala FAM to the league format which served as a third-tier league in the Malaysian football league system and become as Liga FAM starting from 2009 season.[21][22]

Below is the Malaysian football league system in 2009.

Level

Leagues/divisions

1 Liga Super (MSL)
11 clubs
2 Liga Premier (MPL)
11 clubs
3 Liga FAM
4 14 States Leagues

Below is the Malaysian football league system in 2013.

Level

Leagues/divisions

1 Liga Super (MSL)
12 clubs
2 Liga Premier (MPL)
12 clubs
3 Liga FAM
22 clubs
4 14 States Leagues
134 clubs (2013 season)

Promotion and relegation rules for the top four levels

  1. Liga Super (level 1, 12 teams): The bottom two teams are relegated.
  2. Liga Premier (level 2, 12 teams): The top two automatically promoted. The bottom two are relegated.
  3. Liga FAM (level 3, 18 teams): The top two teams are automatically promoted. Currently there are no relegation in this league. Sometimes, teams might withdraw for financial reason and might be given permission to play in States League.
  4. Malaysian States League (level 4, various teams each, running in parallel): The champions in each division might get promoted to the Liga FAM if they want to play at the national level as long as they fulfil the requirements in terms of club preparation, account balance and other rules set by FAM.

Cup eligibility

Being members of a league at a particular level also affects eligibility for Cup, or single-elimination, competitions.

  • Piala Malaysia: Levels 1 to 2
  • Piala Cabaran: Levels 1 to 2
  • Piala FA: Levels 1 to 5
  • Piala Sumbangsih is a single match played each January between the Piala Malaysia winners and the Liga Super champions.

See also

References

  1. ↑ John Duerden (7 July 2012). "Malaysia: A new hope". ESPN.com. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
  2. ↑ "Malaysia hopes to relive football glory days by training 10,000 teenagers". Bernama. The Edge. 21 October 2013. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  3. ↑ Ooi Kin Fai (4 October 2013). "The biggest change in Malaysian football". Goal.com. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  4. ↑ Simon Ingka Crown; Jeremy Veno (30 July 2010). "Football development: A tough job". The Borneo Post. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  5. ↑ Jeeva Arulampalam (21 October 2009). "Malaysian soccer clubs need right structures to attract funding". Business Times. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  6. ↑ Shebby Singh (15 November 2013). "A much-needed intervention for the good of Malaysian football". The Malaysian Insider. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
  7. ↑ T. Avineshwaran (21 September 2013). "Future of our football". The Star. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  8. ↑ "Association Information [Football Association of Malaysia]". FIFA. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  9. ↑ "About Football Malaysia". Football Malaysia LLP. Archived from the original on 31 August 2015. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  10. ↑ Ooi Kin Fai (7 May 2015). "Malaysian football going for the German way". Goal.com. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  11. ↑ "Packed Malaysian fixtures will help build stronger national team - FMLLP". ESPN.com. 4 August 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  12. ↑ "Malaysian football needs to embrace professionalism". Fox Sports Asia. 2 January 2017. Archived from the original on 5 January 2017. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  13. ↑ Peter Wilson; Benson Sim (28 July 2006). "The demand for Semi-Pro League football in Malaysia 1989–91: a panel data approach". Applied Economics. 27: 131–138. doi:10.1080/00036849500000015.
  14. ↑ "Amanat Tengku Abdullah" (in Malay). Liga Bolasepak Rakyat. 27 May 2016. Archived from the original on 4 June 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  15. ↑ Atsushi Fujioka; Erik Garin; Mikael Jönsson; Hans Schöggl (11 January 2018). "FA of Malaysia Cup". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  16. ↑ "Malaysia 1994". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 7 January 2001. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  17. ↑ Azizul Fahmi (26 December 2008). "Pembunuh bola sepak negara" (in Malay). Kosmo!. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  18. ↑ B. Suresh Ram (16 December 2015). "What happened to Malaysian football?". New Straits Times. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  19. ↑ Mikael Jönsson (19 June 2003). "Malaysia 1997". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  20. ↑ Hamdan Saaid (1 July 2006). "Malaysia 2005". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  21. ↑ Hamdan Saaid (18 July 2013). "Malaysia 2007/08". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  22. ↑ Shamim Imran; Hamdan Saaid (18 July 2013). "Malaysia 2009". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
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